Joe Johnston

Jurassic Park 3D: How Does a Classic Play When You Can't Fast-Forward?

Tastemaker No. 1

From now 'til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers -- Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you'll know; for others, it'll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you're here, check out our 100 Creat ... More >>

Tastemaker No. 2

From now 'til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers -- Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you'll know; for others, it'll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you're here, check out our 100 Creat ... More >>

Tastemaker No. 3

4: Cathy Hayes

From now 'til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers -- Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you'll know; for others, it'll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you're here, check out our 100 Creat ... More >>

5: Stephen Jones

From now 'til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers -- Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you'll know; for others, it'll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you're here, check out our 100 Creat ... More >>

6: Francesca Bianco

From now 'til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers -- Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you'll know; for others, it'll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you're here, check out our 100 Creat ... More >>

8: Bob McClendon

From now 'til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers -- Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you'll know; for others, it'll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you're here, check out our 100 Creat ... More >>

9: Eytan Zias

From now 'til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers -- Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you'll know; for others, it'll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you're here, check out our 100 Creat ... More >>

10: Joe Johnston

From now 'til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers -- Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you'll know; for others, it'll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you're here, check out our 100 Creat ... More >>

Local Farmer Carl Seacat Forges Relationship (and Grows Veggies) with Joe Johnston at Agritopia

See also: Carl Seacat's Perfect Summer Farmers Market Food Day See also: Tastemaker #75: Carl Seacat Local farmer and Chow Bella Tastemaker Carl Seacat has had an anxious summer. His three-year lease at Blue Sky Farms (where he tended one acre) was not renewed, and he's been scrambling to find a l ... More >>

Liberty Market's Burger Daze Fits Everything But Foie Gras Between Buns

See also: Thin Mint Cupcakes at Liberty Market Can you eat 31 different burgers in 31 days? Business partners Joe Johnston and Chef David Traina of Liberty Market don't exactly expect you to, but they'll give you points for trying during their third annual Burger Daze event this August. Calorie co ... More >>

How Long Is Too Long to Wait For a Table at a Restaurant?

New Yorkers are certainly no strangers when it comes to obscene wait times for meals, but, hey, it's different in the Valley. So whether you have reservations or not, is waiting for a table at a popular restaurant worth it in the end? I asked Valley chefs and restaurateurs how long they would stick ... More >>

Should a Chef Alter a Signature Menu Item If a Customer Requests It?

The implied meaning of a signature menu item is that it doesn't change. And for restaurants who offer them, the message to customers is simple: If you come here, you can have this special item. But what if the customer wants a signature dish with alterations? I asked Valley chefs and restaurateurs ... More >>

Are Food Festivals Worth It?

Thousands of people, lots of restaurants, and the plastic cups -- my god, the plastic cups! For many parts of the country, food festivals are in full swing this time of year. We've most likely had a taste or two at several, but what do those on the other side of the booth think? This week, Valley ... More >>

Liberty Market Sells Stumptown Coffee, Presents a Coffee-Centered Community Dinner

Coffee is simple, but preparation can get complicated, so most restaurants leave espresso up to the cafe across the street. Luckily for us, restauranteur Joe Johnston likes a challenge and stuck the E61 Bar - where a chrome 1965 espresso machine is the daily driver - right inside Liberty Market to u ... More >>

Thin Mint Cupcakes at Liberty Market

Every now and then, a special breed of fast casual spots really wows us with their menus. And if that includes dessert, we definitely want to know about it.

Liberty Market Goes Breakfast for Dinner Next Monday

Sure, breakfast starts the day off right. But what about a little of that a.m. mojo in the evening hours? Liberty Market, the hip little bistro in Gilbert courtesy of restaurateur Joe Johnston, aims to do just that with a "Breakfast for Dinner" five-course meal served at 6:30 p.m., Monday, March 26 ... More >>

Liberty Market Community Dinner: An Ode to Gilbert's Farmers Market

​If you checked out the Gilbert Farmers Market on a recent Saturday, you might've bumped shoulders with Joe Johnston or Chef David Traina of Liberty Market - they've been shopping the aisles and chatting with vendors, compiling a casting list of ingredients that will be the star players in the yea ... More >>

Top Ten Burgers in Greater Phoenix

​You can thank the St. Louis World Fair of 1904 for being the launching pad for the hamburger as we know it (at one point, it was called the hamburger sandwich). Today, the round patty in a bun is the primary way in which the Western world consumes beef. When it comes to burgers in the greater Pho ... More >>

Liberty Market To Host Five-Course, "Fast Food" Feast

​Leave it to Liberty Market, the brainchild of restaurateur Joe Johnston and Gilbert's go-to for gourmet burgers, to host their last community dinner in honor of National Fast Food Day (November 16.) Starting at 6:30 p.m., Monday and Tuesday, November 21 and 22, Liberty Market will host a fiv ... More >>

Smarty Rants

Joe Johnston's Perfect Food Day

​ If you've ever seen the Joe's Real BBQ logo, you'll find a picture of a man fully decked out in a fedora, button up shirt and tie, wire rimmed glasses and the apron representing his ability to get his hands dirty -- that's Joe Johnston. He originally went to school for engineering (U.S. Naval A ... More >>

Captain America Ignores Its Roots for Easy Money

Plasma Cutting A Coffee Roaster, Texas Sheet Cake and A Salmon Lunch Bento

A round-up of tasty morsels from Valley food blogs. Acme Metal WorksTom Eckholdt uses a plasma cutter to separate the roasting bowl from the upper ring​We've been enjoying following Joe Johnston's love affair with coffee via his online documentary, The Roaster Project. His latest post shares the ... More >>

Phoenix Farmers Who Tweet

This week in our Follow Friday feature, we're highlighting a few of the Phoenix farmers who tweet all about the blood sweat tears of food production in the desert. http://www.causematters.com/wp-content/uploads/CoverArt_Farmers.jpg​Superstition Farm (@superfarm) The Mesa-based dairy farm tweets ... More >>

Phoenix Eaterati Dish on Their Fave Foods of 2010

Joe Johnston Restaurateur Joe Johnston's perfect sandwich of 2010.​ What was the best thing you ate in 2010? I asked around with a handful of Phoenix food lovers, and they were split down the middle. For some, the answer was easy and obvious, a singular work of gastronomic perfec ... More >>

Liberty Market: Lunch $10 & Under

​Locals always complain about Phoenix's lack of a solid identity as if it's a bad thing. Hey, where else can you see a skyscraper, a haute couture boutique and a working farm, all in the span of an hour? We have everything here. When we're clamoring for the old-school charm of a neighbor ... More >>

Terrain: Dangerous Turf for Foodies and Design Fans

​Leave it to Joe Johnston, local tastemaker extraordinaire, to casually Tweet about a cool new website that's suddenly become my time-suck/online shopping obsession of the moment: Terrain. It's a home, garden, and gift store from the evil geniuses at Anthropologie, where I have a weakness for ... More >>

4: Griddled Bread Pudding at Liberty Market

Jamie Mulhern Hungry yet? We're working up our appetites for our huge Best of Phoenix issue, out September 30, with daily servings of Chow Bella's 100 Favorite Dishes from across the Valley -- in no particular order. Visit our sister blog, Jackalope Ranch, for a compa ... More >>

Cook It Up

Foodies take to the kitchen for a tasty competition

Foodie Fight 2 Brings Out Local Luminaries This Saturday

​Several months ago, foodie-about-town and marketing/PR agency owner Ty Largo (shown at left) challenged his friend and fellow food geek/blogger Joel LaTondress (shown below, at right, he's also known as the Yelper who incited ABC Baking Co. owner Amy Bouzaglo's epic tangent, which got Chow B ... More >>

Joe's Farm Grill Introduces Dog Days of Summer for September

The 3-B: bacon, blue cheese, and Joe's Real BBQ sauce​Don't panic, hot dog lovers. You have all month to enjoy ten different varieties of specialty hot dogs that Joe's Farm Grill is rolling out today.The hip Gilbert hangout started its "Dog Days of Summer" menu last year with a rotating lineup of ... More >>

BBQ Battle, Dinner & a Movie, Tapas Classes and Jellied Tongue in Today's Eater's Digest

www.nopatternrequired.com​ Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?Weekend Time!No plans for the weekend? We have a couple ideas to get you off the couch, outta the house and filling your belly with some tasty eats. Always wanted to host your ow ... More >>

Next Week: Artisan Thursday at Liberty Market

​Liberty Market, in downtown Gilbert, is the kind of place where food lovers find any excuse to stop by, even when they live in other parts of the Valley. A sip of espresso, a bite of pizza, maybe some breakfast -- this is the kind of place you could visit any time of day. Craving a cortadito ... More >>

Joe's Real BBQ to Offer Breakfast on Weekends

​There's much not to like about summers in the Valley. The 120-degree temperatures that turn your vehicle's interior into a blast furnace. Aerial shots of the thrice-weekly walls of dust generated by the monsoon. The lamentable way the Arizona Diamondbacks play baseball. But here's someth ... More >>

D’Vine Bistro and Wine Bar in East Mesa Isn’t Worth the D’rive

Read This: Joe Johnston's Roaster Project Blog

​If you consider yourself a card-carrying coffee geek -- or, as restaurateur Joe Johnston would put it, a "disciple" of the "true gospel of coffee" -- then you need to bookmark Johnston's excellent new blog, Roaster Project. But even if you don't consider yourself a java expert or even drink ... More >>

Today: Joe's Farm Grill Hosts Free Hamburger Day

​There's no doubt that Joe's Farm Grill is already a southeast Valley destination. Owner Joe Johnston converted his old family farmhouse into a Jetson-worthy burger joint, and the relaxing setting is a welcome reprieve from the city. But a free hamburger? That's even more reason to visit. He ... More >>

A Month of Crazy Hot Dogs at Joe's Farm Grill

For most people I know, hot dogs are usually an occasional indulgence -- maybe a dog with the works and a huge beer at a baseball game, a Nogales dog when the mood strikes, or hot dogs on the grill on a lazy Sunday by the pool. But Joe's Farm Grill has come up with 14 good reasons to eat hot dogs pr ... More >>

Free Drinks on E-61 Espresso Machine's 45th Birthday

Joe JohnstonThe FAEMA E-61 espresso machine at the E-61 Espresso Bar in Liberty Market.The FAEMA E-61 was a revolution in espresso when it was presented in 1961. It represented the sleek design ushered in with the 60s -- and introduced the new technology that made espresso better for good. Today, t ... More >>

Wednesday: Free BBQ at Joe's in Gilbert

With all the awards that Joe's Real BBQ has stacked up, the place could easily coast on its own fine reputation. But that's just not how owner Joe Johnston operates. Instead, he makes a point to host an annual Free Day, dishing up gratis plates of the barbecue that made him a local personality. ... More >>

Liberty Market: The East Valley’s Answer to La Grande Orange

Liberty Market set to open in Gilbert

Worth the Drive

Hidden jewel in a master-planned community

Bush Comes to Shove

Like America's current leaders, Viggo and Hidalgo try to "enlighten" the Arabs with Western justice

Leapin' Lizards!

The dinosaurs are jumping, but the story isn't, in Jurassic Park III

Rocketeer Jerker

What goes up ultimately comes down in less-than-stellar October Sky

Second Helpings

The Jungle in There